Hello readers! Once again thanks for all of your positive feedback!
Sonny April, I'm so glad you enjoyed my last chapter and I did not know that this fic was the first to mention Fun Dip! I'm also glad you liked how the dinasour eggs were made and sorry to disappoint you that the dinasour eggs were a real Wonka product. I wanted to include some real Wonka candies as well!
Individualist, I'm very glad you liked the idea as well and boy, Veruca was certainly properly named! What a wart indeed!
Linkwonka88, I did some research on old Wonka candies and the dinasour eggs were discontinued long before I was born. I wished I would have tried one! And that's really cute that you had a crush on Mike!
Hammond, like I said to Linkwonka88 and Sonny, I wanted a mix of real and my own creations and I never went on the old Wonka website (again, probably too young to remember!) and it sounds like fun!
Mattthewriter, I'm so glad that everything worked out with your account and Veruca is such a naughty, nasty little wart! I'm glad you enjoyed my chapter and you'll see where they'll next very shortly! :)
Now on we go! :)
Once everyone was onboard, Willy pressed one of the buttons and within seconds the Wonkavator drastically turned to the left before eventually slowing down. Below the group was a large village made of gingerbread buildings, all frosted with white frosting and decorated with Christmas candy. The ground was covered in white frosting and coconut flakes. Most of the gingerbread people flocked towards the town square to see a large choir of gingerbread people clad in winter gear made of colorful frosting and clutching thin songbooks, singing Christmas carols. A gigantic Christmas tree consisting of bright red and green gumdrops crowned with a yellow star-shaped candy on top proudly towered behind the choir. Mike and Violet were amazed by the gingerbread carolers' heavenly and realistic voices as they sang "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas".
"Wow, that's so impressive! Who knew a bunch of cookies would make excellent singers. I don't wanna eat any of 'em!" Mike remarked in awe.
"Oh, they're not edible. This is our one and only Gingerbread Village, where our gingerbread products are made. The only edible portions of the village is in the gingerbread lumber mill. See that tall building to your right? That's where the gingerbread is made and eventually collected." Willy explained as he pointed his cane towards a tall, wide building made of hardened candy canes filled with long gingerbread logs stacked up on one another inside.
"Where the edible gingerbread comes from is the gingerbread trees in the back, once when they're tall enough, gingerbread lumberjacks or sometimes oompa loompas chop them down and then cut them up into pieces in the lumber mill and send them to the oompa loompas who do the rest! And viola! You get your gingerbread cookies!" Charlie explained with a smile.
"What about the rest of the buildings and the people?" Violet questioned.
"Oh, they are made from our gingerbread and this marvelous village is of my own creation! It was established in 1960." Willy added.
"Wow, it's weird to think that these cookies are older than me." Mike remarked as the Wonkavator shifted into the next room.
Before the group's eyes was a small white room that contained several large clear square bins all filled with tiny, candies with each one holding a different color. Many of the candies were pouring out from several large funnel-shaped pipes that were in the ceiling. Many oompa loompas pushed purple carts that contained boxes filled with the little multicolored candies.
"Oh I know these, these are Nerds, right?" Mike asked the chocolatiers.
"That is correct Mike! This is where we make Nerds, by far our most popular candy since 1983!" Willy proudly told the young artist.
"Yeah! We have so many flavors like grape and strawberry, lemon and lime, and watermelon and cherry!" Charlie added.
After the Wonkavator left the Nerds Room, it sped up once more until reaching another tall steel door, the tallest they've seen.
"Now, this will be the final room we will visit on this spectacular tour before dinner, which will be held in the Dining Hall. We must all be very careful here, it's very dark. Put on your hats please..." Willy gently told the others as he gave everyone a light purple miner's hat with the signature "W" branded on.
The group soon walked inside a dark, cavernous room with its only source of light being fluorescent gems and the lights from the oompa loompas' hats. The oompa loompas were all vigorously picking the colorful gems with different kinds of tools and placing them in light purple wooden wagons.
"Welcome to the Rock Candy Mine, the only place in the whole world where rock candy is picked from a mine!" Charlie told his fellow ticket finders.
"This is so impressive! It'll make an excellent painting." Mike stated in awe.
"Parts of our mine are the deepest areas of the entire factory, it goes 10,000 feet deep!" Willy added.
"Are you serious?! That's like towards the center of the earth!" Veruca hissed.
"Oh dear, the drills are a tad too loud, could you please repeat that?" Willy replied in a monotone voice.
Mike and Violet both burst into laughter as Veruca's face reddened.
"Could you all kindly follow us to the wagons?" Charlie politely asked the others as everyone sat into individual wagons.
An oompa loompa quickly fastened bright pink safety bars onto each person's lap.
"Everyone fastened? YES! GOOD! ON WE GO!" Willy declared as the wagons slowly descended into a wide tunnel.
The runner-ups saw more oompa loompas drilling enormous chunks of rock candy as the rest of the gems illuminated the dark tunnel.
"I gotta say, this place isn't as bad as I thought." Mike said to himself.
Violet quickly turned around.
"Yeah, I agree with you. It's been a great time." She replied with a smile.
Veruca sat in the very last wagon with a bored look etched on her face.
The wagons suddenly met a fork in the track and then dramatically shifted towards the left, faster than the Wonkavator.
"What the hell is going on?!" Violet yelled as the wagons sped even more.
The tunnel was now in pure darkness. Charlie and Willy began to panic.
"I don't understand this! Why is it going the wrong direction!" Willy cried, showing anxiety for the first time throughout the tour.
"Me neither! Is there something wrong with the gear shift?" Charlie questioned, horrified.
"I don't know and we can't turn around!" Willy screamed as the dark room was illuminated by multicolored lights.
Seconds later, an image of a millipede crawling on a dead man's face appeared.
All three runner-ups immediately recognized the disturbing image and brought them back terrible memories. The image of the dead chicken reappeared and the corpse was decapitated moments later. The next image was Augustus' boyhood self trapped in the pipe, frantically pleading for help. It soon morphed into Augustus' silent grave and a small bouquet of yellow and pink flowers was laid in front of it.
Charlie stared at the flat, grey granite headstone with sadness. The grim image then changed to Violet turning blue and gradually inflating in the inventing room.
"Help! Help!" a young Violet cried as present Violet screamed in terror and covered her eyes.
She began to tremble furiously as she heard her girlhood self screaming during her dejuicing process. Young Violet was shown sitting in the formerly grey foyer, sobbing as her father hopelessly attempted to comfort his daughter. A crying Violet soon transformed into a shrunken Mike, moments before he was picked up by his mother's gigantic fingers. Mike loudly gulped in horror and looked away. His freckled face turned ashen as the image transformed into him being placed onto the taffy puller.
"Oh God no!" Mike yelled as he too looked away.
"STOP THIS AT ONCE!" Willy roared as the image depicted Mike being pulled by the taffy puller.
Charlie was haunted by the images of his fellow ticket finders in so much pain and a wave of nausea struck him.
"I SAID STOP IT!" Willy violently screamed as the room went dark and the wagons completely stopped.
Seconds later, the wagons finally stopped and the lights flickered on. The group found themselves in a quiet metallic room. Not a single piece of rock candy or oompa loompa was in sight. Charlie and Willy turned to see Violet trembling so hard that she could of easily been convulsing and covering her eyes. Mike sat behind her, pale as a ghost and panting fiercely while Veruca seethed in the last seat.
"We are terribly sorry for what just had happened, we didn't m-"
"Oh of course you didn't mean any of it! You know what you are candyman, a sick and twisted narcissist who wants to increase our misery!" Violet screamed, nearly in tears.
Willy's blue eyes widened in horror and shock.
"Yeah! I agree! That's exactly why you two invited us back, just to further punish us for stupid things we did as kids! By the way, you don't deserve any of my artwork! You know who does, someone nice like Violet!" Mike growled, placing his hands on Violet's shoulders.
Violet let out a very weak smile which faded within seconds.
"Stop! I-I didn't mean any harm. I-In fact... it was all my idea. I j-just wanted to do something nice and to catch up! The last thing we ever want to do to you is to hurt you!" Charlie frantically confessed as the three runner-ups all rose from their wagons.
"Oh, please! That madman has been brainwashing you since you won that bloody contest and you are already becoming a psychopath like him. I won't be surprised when I hear four more children's lives being destroyed on the news one day!" Veruca violently roared, quickly walking away.
"I actually agree with the nit for once! You deliberately caused the stampede by that aquarium and the coconut ice to melt!" Violet added.
"I could have died thanks to you whack jobs!" Mike chimed as the trio darted towards an emergency exit.
"Wait, please come back! We didn't want any of this!" Willy desperately cried, following the runner-ups.
He tried to catch up, only to lose them in the long, deep corridor. Charlie was frozen in his spot, knowing that his event failed miserably. Willy walked back towards his apprentice, with a furious look.
"W-Willy... I-I'm s-sorry, I didn't ask for any of this!" Charlie stammered.
"I know you didn't. I know that it wasn't your intention. But I knew from the very beginning that this would of been a DISASTER!" Willy suddenly screamed, which took Charlie by surprise.
"The whole thing was a mistake and now we're going to be laughingstocks and our sales will plummet thanks to your terrible idea. Go to the Residence Rooms, now!"
Charlie paused.
"But-"
"I SAID GO AWAY!" Willy roared as he and Charlie walked separate ways.
Charlie looked down at his feet in shame while riding the elevator back to the Residence Rooms. As he walked down the factory's dim hallways, he realized that his mentor was right all along. He thought that he should have just let them be and move on with their lives. Now they were going to hate him and Willy even more than they ever did. Charlie dreaded to tell the bad news to Stacy and his mother.
Once he finally reached the Resident's Rooms, it was eerily silent.
"Mom? Stacy? Joey? Anybody?" Charlie called.
No responses were heard. Charlie called out his loved one's names repeatedly. He walked into his chocolate mint scented room. He flicked on the lights and no one was in sight. His shame transformed into pure worry.
"Somebody! Please respond to me! This isn't funny!" he cried in pure panic.
"Oh Charlie boy... here's your response..." a familiar voice cooly responded.